IS IT ANY WONDER?

Jesus chose His disciples carefully, even though He knew one would betray Him and the rest would desert Him when He was on trial for His life (Matt. 17:22; 26:56). When Jesus taught them about His pending death, Peter rebuked Him (Matt. 16:22). And following His Resurrection from the grave, they did not believe the reports that He had risen (Mk. 16:11; Jn. 20:25). It was not until after He appeared to them that the eleven remaining disciples believed, and it took the filling of the Holy Ghost before they willingly stood on the streets of Jerusalem and risked their lives to proclaim that Jesus was alive (Acts 2:1-36).

The Apostle Paul provides a list of many who witnessed the resurrected Lord in 1 Corinthians 15:4-8: "And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, He was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, He was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all He was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time." Notice Paul did not include the women who first saw the risen Christ (Matt. 28:1-10), nor did he include the two walking on the road to Emmaus (Lk. 24:13-35). There is no way of knowing how many saw the risen Lord prior to His Ascension forty days after His Resurrection (Acts 1:1-9), but needless to say, the required testimony of two or more witnesses was certainly satisfied (Deut.19:15; Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1).

I heard a PBS show discussing the activities of Jesus in those forty days prior to Him taking His rightful place at the right hand of the Father (Acts 2:33), and as is typical of the liberal "so-called scholars," speculation ran from guesses to "we can not possibly know." It is too bad that they didn't read what the Bible said about His appearances to His disciples. Just one example is found in His dialogue with those two travelers on the road to Emmaus. Luke wrote: "O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself" (24:25-27). And in Acts 1:1-8, Jesus was still instructing His followers until the moment He departed.

With the "experts" and "liberal clergy" teaching their opinions instead of the Word of God, is it any wonder that men are confused about what is truth, and what is myth? Those disciples who witnessed the risen Lord, knew the Truth, and all but John gave up their lives for their faith in Him. I have heard it said that men will certainly die for what they believe, but none would willingly give up their life for a lie. Obviously, the disciples believed, and is it any wonder? They saw Him alive! Happy Resurrection Day!